Austin Dog Trainer Blog

Dolphin bubbles!

Ever seen a dolphin play with bubble rings?  Dolphins can make bubble rings in the water - check out this video of dolphins playing with their bubble rings! 

Cara, Austin Dog Training and Behavior

Think training is just for the dogs?

Check out these other animals!

Rabbit Agility

Really cool llamas!

Cat in action

Panda, the assistance horse

Enjoy the show and have a happy holiday everyone!

Cara, Austin Dog Trainer

A few links and movies!

I ran across a lot of neat links this week, so I thought I'd share a couple!

To see a really cool application of learning theory and a cute trained turtle, visit this news station and click on the link that says  Turtle Tricks: http://www.wptv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx

For one man's very funny approach to his problem of the neighbor's dog pooping on his lawn, click here: http://www.thepoopdetective.com/

Cara, Austin Dog Training and Dog Daycare

Buddy at Dog Scouts Camp!

Hi there!  As usual, Dog Scouts Camp had a wonderful professional photographer available to catch all the fun.  Here are some of the shots of Buddy at camp a couple of weeks ago:

This is Buddy trotting behind one of his favorite pals, Simon.  Buddy had a bit of a stressful time at camp this year (new things are hard for him), but the beach always brought a smile to his face!

After running on the beach for so long, you just have to dig a little bed and chill out!

And at night, if you get cold, just take the sweatshirt off your mama's back - she won't mind!

Cara and Buddy, Dog Scouts of America Members

 

Greyhound Rescue Featured as Shelter of the Week

One of my FAVORITE rescue groups is being featured as the shelter of the week on the SPCA International website!  This Austin-based greyhound rescue group often has to get greyhounds out of our local kill shelter with little to no notice or pick up greyhounds that have been found wandering the streets in horrible medical condition.  These greyhounds are often dumped and abandoned by the illegal racing industry.  They also work with legal racing outlets to find new homes for retired racers that have finished their running or breeding lives and need couches to hang out on.  They are a wonderful group that have been hit hard lately by medical bills for several very sick greyhounds.  You can read more about them and perhaps make a donation to support them on the SPCA International website.  And, if you're in Austin and you might like to help by providing a foster home or volunteering to walk a greyhound, you contact the Austin greyhound rescue group through their website.  They'd love to hear from you!

Cara, Austin Dog Trainer and proud mama of two retired racing greyhounds, Buddy and Chance

Very funny!

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html

Austin dog trainer will be at the Bow Wow Luau this Sunday!

Buddy's Chance Austin Dog Training will be at the Bow Wow Luau in Austin, Texas this Sunday, June 24th from noon to 4pm.  The event, which benefits Safe Haven Animal Rescue, will be held at Southpaws Playschool located at 2324 South Lamar Blvd in Austin, Texas.  The cost is $5.00 to get in and there will be dog booths, a silent auction, and tips from us, your Austin Dog Training Experts!  See you there,

Cara, Austin Dog Training and Daycare

Thank you Austin Pet Sitters!

I want to say a huge Thank You to Adette of Adette's Ark Pet Sitting in Austin, Texas and Lynn of Lynn's Pet Sitting in Austin, Texas for generously volunteering their time to help with the puppies that Tammy is fostering!  When we needed to keep the puppies home for a few more weeks instead of bringing them into our Austin Dog Daycare, I called some professional pet sitters I know in Austin and asked for volunteer pet sits to help feed the puppies and change their bedding.  They stepped right up and helped.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Adette and Lynn! 

I also have new pictures of the puppies (and these ones didn't come from my camera phone so they're actually clear!). 

7 of the 8 puppies still need homes - we are taking reservations now and they'll be allowed to go home at 8 weeks.  Mommie also needs a home.  She is heart worm negative and has an absolutely wonderful disposition.  ALL the puppies and mom come with free training classes at our Central Austin Dog Training Center.  If you would like to apply to adopt one, email me. 

Two of the puppies are brown and appear to be Mastiff/AmStaff mixes (Sweetie is only about 45-50 lbs. so I don't know how big these guys will get):

Some of them, like the little runt, appear to be Lab/AmStaff mixes (Labrastaffs).

Some of the other puppies are harder to tell.  One has longer hair than the others and another one has sort of a seal colored coat.  They're all absolutely adorable, of course!

Cara, Buddy's Chance, LLC,  Austin Dog Training, Behavior, and Daycare

Sweetie's Puppies are Getting Bigger by the Minute!

I can't believe it, but Sweetie is actually managing to feed her 8 puppies enough to have them growing like weeds!  Even though she's underweight herself, she's got to be giving all she's taking in to those pups, because they're getting fat, and snuggly, and adorable!  It's a good thing she's got Tammy there to feed her 9 cups of home-cooked dog food a day!  Even the littlest puppy is thriving.  They've started to open their eyes and they're taking a few steps - Tammy even said she's found one of them out of the whelping box.

In a couple more weeks, the puppies and Sweetie will come to our Austin Dog Training Center during daycare while Tammy is at work.  Some of our student dog trainers are poised and ready to do some training with the puppies to start them off with some nice manners before they get adopted.  If you live in the Austin area and are hoping to adopt a puppy or might want to adopt Sweetie after she's finished her mothering duties, please contact us to fill out an application!

In the meantime, enjoy the latest pictures:

Doesn't he look like a little bear?

Cara, Austin Dog Trainer

8 Healthy (and very big!) New Additions!

Well, the Austin Dog Scouts Troop now has some new additions - 8 beautiful, healthy puppies.  There are 3 boys and 5 girls - some are a gorgeous brownish gray like their mama and some are different shades of black or charcoal with white markings.  There was one that was completely black.  They are relaxing at home with their mom, Sweetie, who did a fantastic job with them right from the start.

Sweetie was found by Austin Dog Scouts member, Tammy, about a week and a half ago.  She was VERY pregnant with what the vet thought was 5 puppies, give or take 1 or 2.  Well, 3 were hiding during the X-ray!  I have to go clean the floors for tonight's classes, so this post will be fast, but the quick version is:

Sweetie went into labor yesterday afternoon but didn't progress much - at about 3:15 am, her water broke and the first puppy was born at 4:30 am.  By about 8:30 am, mama had 6 puppies and was doing beautifully!  She is a natural mother and was taking excellent care of all of her pups.  She still seemed to be in labor and we wondered whether she would have another one.  She had some contractions and panting for 2 hours, but nothing seemed to be coming.  I was just about to leave to go feed my own dogs when she started giving birth to a 7th puppy.  Luckily, I stayed to watch because what happened next required more than one set of hands!  Mama must have been exhausted - she cut the 7th baby's umbilical cord too close to its body.  The puppy's intestines began to spill from a cut at the base of the cord. 

I had the puppy in one hand and my other hand was holding the intestines in place, while Tammy got mama and her pups loaded into the car.  Thankfully, her veterinarian is just around the corner from her house so we were able to make the drive in about 2 minutes.  They flushed the intestines, repacked them, and stitched the puppy up.  Meanwhile, Sweetie surprised us all with an 8th puppy!  We still can't figure out where she was hiding them all or how she was able to sustain 8 very large, healthy puppies with her small body.  She was a trooper!  All the puppies, even the "Gut Baby" as he was elegantly labeled, are back at Tammy's house resting - all appear to be doing well.  When the puppies are older, they'll be spending their days socializing and getting some training at Buddy's Chance. 

I'll have more pictures and even some video eventually, but here is a shot of the hard working mama and her incredible babies (this shows about 4 of her puppies):

We should all look so refreshed in the middle of labor:)

More pictures and video coming soon - I have to go get the floors done!

Cara, Austin Dog Trainer